Patentable/Patents/US-10910101
US-10910101

Image diagnosis support apparatus, image diagnosis support method, and image diagnosis support program

PublishedFebruary 2, 2021
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

An image diagnosis support apparatus includes: an acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of first image data groups and a plurality of second image data groups to be subjected to comparative interpretation; an association unit that associates each of the plurality of first image data groups and each of the plurality of second image data groups with each other based on a degree of similarity between the image data groups; an image extraction unit that extracts a corresponding image corresponding to at least one target image of the first image data group from a second image data group among the plurality of second image data groups associated with a first image data group among the plurality of first image data groups; and a display controller that displays a set of images of the target image and the corresponding image on a display unit in a contrastable layout.

Patent Claims
20 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. An image diagnosis support apparatus, comprising: a memory; and a processor configured to: acquire a plurality of first image data groups and a plurality of second image data groups to be subjected to comparative interpretation from a data storage unit in which multiple image data groups each including a plurality of images are stored for each unit examination; associate each image data group of the plurality of first image data groups with each image data group of the plurality of second image data groups based on a degree of similarity between pieces of pixel data of each of the plurality of first image data groups and pieces of pixel data of each of the plurality of second image data groups acquired by the processor; extract a corresponding image corresponding to at least one target image of a first image data group from a second image data group, which is any image data group among the plurality of second image data groups associated with the first image data group, which is any image data group among the plurality of first image data groups; display a set of images of the target image and the corresponding image on a display unit in a contrastable layout; determine whether or not a direction of image planes in the plurality of first image data groups is the same as a direction of image planes in the plurality of second image data groups; and in a case in which the directions of the image planes of the plurality of first image data groups and the plurality of second image data groups match each other, calculate the degree of similarity.

2

2. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to extract the corresponding image for all target images included in the plurality of first image data groups.

3

3. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to display sets of images of all of the target images and the corresponding images.

4

4. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to display sets of the target images and the corresponding images in parallel on a screen of the display unit.

5

5. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the image data groups are volume data configured to include a plurality of slice images, and the processor is further configured to perform association based on the degree of similarity.

6

6. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to process a learned model on which machine learning has been performed so as to output whether or not combinations of input image data groups based on input of any involved image data group among the plurality of first image data groups and any involved image data group among the plurality of second image data groups correspond to each other.

7

7. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to display the sets of all of the target images and the corresponding images on a screen of the display unit so as to be switched one by one.

8

8. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the image data groups are volume data configured to include a plurality of slice images, and the processor is further configured to perform association based on the degree of similarity.

9

9. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform association based on a feature amount in a region including a specific anatomical structure included in each involved image data group.

10

10. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to process a learned model on which machine learning has been performed so as to output whether or not combinations of input image data groups based on input of any involved image data group among the plurality of first image data groups and any involved image data group among the plurality of second image data groups correspond to each other.

11

11. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the image data groups are volume data configured to include a plurality of slice images, and the processor is further configured to perform association based on the degree of similarity.

12

12. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform association based on a feature amount in a region including a specific anatomical structure included in each involved image data group.

13

13. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to process a learned model on which machine learning has been performed so as to output whether or not combinations of input image data groups based on input of any involved image data group among the plurality of first image data groups and any involved image data group among the plurality of second image data groups correspond to each other.

14

14. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image data groups are volume data configured to include a plurality of slice images, and the processor is further configured to perform association based on the degree of similarity.

15

15. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform association based on a feature amount in a region including a specific anatomical structure included in each involved image data group.

16

16. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to process a learned model on which machine learning has been performed so as to output whether or not combinations of input image data groups based on input of any involved image data group among the plurality of first image data groups and any involved image data group among the plurality of second image data groups correspond to each other.

17

17. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to extract the corresponding image based on the degree of similarity, the degree of similarity being a degree of similarity between the target image and each image of the second image data group.

18

18. The image diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first image data groups and the plurality of second image data groups are acquired by imaging the same subject at different imaging times.

19

19. An image diagnosis support method, comprising: acquiring a plurality of first image data groups and a plurality of second image data groups to be subjected to comparative interpretation from a data storage unit in which multiple image data groups each including a plurality of images are stored for each unit examination; associating each image data group of the plurality of first image data groups with each image data group of the plurality of second image data groups based on a degree of similarity between pieces of pixel data of each of the plurality of first image data groups and pieces of pixel data of each of the plurality of second image data groups; extracting a corresponding image corresponding to at least one target image of a first image data group from a second image data group, which is any image data group among the plurality of second image data groups associated with the first image data group, which is any image data group among the plurality of first image data groups; displaying a set of images of the target image and the corresponding image on a display unit in a contrastable layout; determining whether or not a direction of image planes in the plurality of first image data groups is the same as a direction of image planes in the plurality of second image data groups; and in a case in which the directions of the image planes of the plurality of first image data groups and the plurality of second image data groups match each other, calculating the degree of similarity.

20

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores an image diagnosis support program causing a computer to execute: a step of acquiring a plurality of first image data groups and a plurality of second image data groups to be subjected to comparative interpretation from a data storage unit in which multiple image data groups each including a plurality of images are stored for each unit examination; a step of associating each image data group of the plurality of first image data groups with each image data group of the plurality of second image data groups based on a degree of similarity between pieces of pixel data of each of the plurality of first image data groups and pieces of pixel data of each of the plurality of second image data groups; a step of extracting a corresponding image corresponding to at least one target image of a first image data group from a second image data group, which is any image data group among the plurality of second image data groups associated with the first image data group, which is any image data group among the plurality of first image data groups; a step of displaying a set of images of the target image and the corresponding image on a display unit in a contrastable layout; a step of determining whether or not a direction of image planes in the plurality of first image data groups is the same as a direction of image planes in the plurality of second image data groups; and in a case in which the directions of the image planes of the plurality of first image data groups and the plurality of second image data groups match each other, a step of calculating the degree of similarity.

Classification Codes (CPC)

Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.

Patent Metadata

Filing Date

August 21, 2019

Publication Date

February 2, 2021

Want to explore more patents?

Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.

Citation & reuse

Analysis on this page is generated by Patentable — an AI-powered patent intelligence platform. AI-generated summaries, explanations, and analysis may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL below. Patent abstracts and claims are USPTO public domain.

Cite as: Patentable. “Image diagnosis support apparatus, image diagnosis support method, and image diagnosis support program” (US-10910101). https://patentable.app/patents/US-10910101

© 2026 Patentable. All rights reserved.

Patentable is a research and drafting-assistant tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Documents we generate are drafts for review by a licensed patent attorney.